2024 - 2025 Executive Committee

Chair: Janine Berstein
Co-Chair: Coco Kaminski
Secretary: Katie Dooley
Treasurer: Tara Salerno
Receiving Treasurer: Catherine Williams

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THE WES PTO

THE WALLINGFORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION

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announcements

Local award-winning children's book author/illustrator Gene Barretta will visit with 3rd-5th graders at WES on Friday, February 21st, to share his book Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin. Signed and personalized copies of Now & Ben are available to order here until Wednesday, February 19th. Purchased books will be sent home in your child's backpack. We have partnered with Children's Book World to fulfill book orders and 20% from our sales will go to the WES PTO!

Winter schedules have never been busier and "to-do" lists are long. WES Night at Chick-fil-A is a perfect answer to busy schedules and crosses off one of those items "to do"... Eat in, drive-thru, or take-out from the Springfield Chick-fil-A on Thursday, February 20th, between 5pm-8pm. A portion of the proceeds goes back to support WES! Be sure to present or use the flyer when placing your order!

Bonjour! Hola! Wie Geht’s! Ni Hao! The WES FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLUB is back this Spring 2025 and welcomes new and returning students! Registration in now open to students in grades 1-5 to learn either French, Spanish, German, or Mandarin. Classes are taught by experienced language instructors in a fun, communicative environment. The session runs for 10 weeks starting in March (see dates on the events page), and tuition is $200. Register now while space is available. Please click here for further details and registration. For any questions, contact the Foreign Language Club. Lesley Underwood, Kaja Giloley, and Amanda Weinberg

Calling all WES families! Mark your calendars for Thursday, March 20th from 6-7 pm for the WES Science Fair in the WES cafeteria. Instead of completing homework at home, earn a homework pass for that night’s homework while supporting the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade student scientists as they showcase their science fair projects! Upon arrival, WES students will be given a science passport that can be completed as they visit 6 student scientists’ tables. Completed passports earn a homework pass for that night’s homework.
This is a PTO-run event and we are looking for volunteers to lead PTO-run science tables. You may sign-up to volunteer here. We hope to see you there and thank you for volunteering!
Attention 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade Parents!
Please encourage your children to take part in the WES Science Fair on Thursday, March 20th from 6-7pm. Looking for guidance or ideas, see this linked flyer! This event is entirely optional and intended to foster a love of science, and not intended to create any stress at home! Projects will not be officially judged—instead, fellow WES students and families will circulate with science passports engaging the students in discussions based on their experiments. All student scientists earn a homework pass for that night’s homework. Parents, if your child wishes to participate, please register here.

Kindergarten Parent Orientation for the 25-26 school year will be held in the WES gym/cafeteria on Monday, March 3 at 7:00 p.m. where incoming kindergarten families will have the opportunity to learn more about our kindergarten program. Kindergarten registration is ongoing; however, children must be registered by Friday, February 28, 2025 at 4:00pm in order to be included in the kindergarten lottery to determine AM or PM session placement. The district offers online registration.

Calling all WES Volunteers! Join the PTO and make a difference next year! The Nominating Committee is looking for enthusiastic parents/guardians to join the WES PTO committees for the 2025-2026 school year.

It's a fantastic opportunity to:

Make an impact: Your contributions will help enrich our WES environment
Connect with the community: Build lasting friendships with volunteers and build a stronger school community
Have some fun!

Whether you have specific interests or are open to exploring different roles, we can find a place for you. Each Spring, the Nominating Committee collects names and builds out the PTO committees for the next school year.
Interested? Contact Ashley Drane, Arianne Allan, Maire Conrad, Suzanne Goodstein, Michele Henriques, or Lisa Zahn for more information.

The WES Yearbook is available to order! Order forms were sent home with your child, or families can also order online . The deadline to order is April 11th, 2025.

Volunteer for Morning Car Line

SIGN UP HERE NOW for Car Line for the 2024-25 school year. Thank you to all of our dedicated volunteers over the past few years. We couldn’t have done it without you! For anyone not familiar, Car Line Volunteers help with ensuring a smooth car drop off for all of our kids each morning from 8:15-8:45am, in the back loop of WES. If you have any questions, please contact Ted Benzing.